Tattoo, nice find on the coconut mug and research on the mark. The same post that Dustycajun showed that menu in also had this shot...

Doesn't that look like your coconut behind the pineapple mug? Across the table is the bowl that showed the same mark, and I'm digging that skull mug! Dusty's post stated that this shot was from the Trader Vic's Old Plantation restaurant on Ward Ave as the International Marketplace location was opening.
What year that was I don't know right now but I'll start searching (edit, apparently 1967). Also, is it possible the mark could be Kanji?

Ron-Tiki beat me to it, but that would be my guess as well. The pineapple mug and Ku bowls by La Tour on Ooga-Mooga have their bottom signatures spelled out, so the stylized L & T brand on your coconut mug probably came before or after. I think the capital "H" in "Hawaii" looks similar too. The bar across the "H" is long and the two vertical lines bow inward the same way both in the print and cursive versions.

Wow! How cool is that. Thanks everyone for figuring all that out and illuminating a semi-major manufacturer. And now we have a way to identify a particular line of mugs and bowls from the Honolulu Trader Vic's. Gotta love Tiki Central!

Is this the Outrigger Club Fog Cutter Crypto Mug seen earlier in this thread on page 4 that ron-tiki and TabooDan were discussing? I think it might be. There are differences between this one and the ones in the photos, but they look pretty similar.

As you know, (or maybe not) my collecting interest in mugs is 2-fold. I only care if the ceramic is

a) Made in Hawaii or
b) Used in Hawaii...

The favorites of my small, but potent collection are the handmade mugs for the Trader Vic's Waikiki dating from 1967-1985ish... I've mentioned before that when the Spencecliff Corporation took over the restaurant,m they were not allowed to use the mugs in the mainland shops...

These UGLY, Rough and some what Primitive vessels are beautiful to me... They are also quite rare and even fewer have been found in Hawaii.

I think that part of the reason that I don't find many is that most seem to have been taken to the mainland as keepsakes. I also think that because they are SO different, that they seem like child's projects and thus are often passed over in favor of more (shall we say) traditional mugs...

It is a great (and infrequent) day when I can add an new example to my collection. As was today... I have neither seen this one before in any place or on the TV drink menu from Waikiki... WOWIE!

That's pretty wild!

The bottom of the mug reads "Trader Vic's Hawaii." And even more curiously "Mountain Top Studio..." The style is quite like the Adele Davis mugs marked 'SSS' (Sunset Shore Studio), the early owner of Polynesian Pottery before selling to the Cosina brothers (Daga)

Anyone got the MTS mark on theirs?

_________________Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

I think 1977 would be the better choice for the date... I haven't run into it before but have seen a pair of salt and pepper shakers with that Tiki on it. It's a wonderful mug... Great glaze...

I think your assessment of Pat's at Punaluu is probably right. That or it belonged to Pat. I did once see a milky white mug marked Pat's with a Maori design on it by Polynesian Pottery, but was out bid.
_________________Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

Buzzy. That face is a Coco Joe's tiki. One of them was just up on eBay recently and went for a lot, considering. I'm surprised to see it on a mug made in Hawaii when Coco Joe's was still an active company.

It's a great face, and Beachbumz uses that particular tiki beautifully on a bucket mug and a few others.

On 2013-03-24 07:39, Hale Tiki wrote:Buzzy. That face is a Coco Joe's tiki. One of them was just up on eBay recently and went for a lot, considering. I'm surprised to see it on a mug made in Hawaii when Coco Joe's was still an active company.

It's a great face, and Beachbumz uses that particular tiki beautifully on a bucket mug and a few others.

Not from a Coco Joe's. It's actually from a Duncan mold. That piece's use is fairly common: